God Promises to Help

In Scripture God promises to help us in troubled times.  Therefore, you will find help for times of trouble in the Bible. It tells you how good and powerful God is and what he promises to do for his children.  Scripture is filled with comfort and encouragement for every Christian. In the Bible, we can find hundreds of promises to undergird our broken hearts and still our troubled minds. The passages below are some we have found particularly helpful.

God is great enough to help

Exodus 34:6-7. The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.

Isaiah 61:1-3. The Spirit of the Lord Godis upon me, because the Lordhas anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

Isaiah 14:24, 27.  The Lordof hosts has sworn: ‘As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand, . . . For the Lordof hosts has purposed, and who will annul it?His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?” 

Romans 8:11.  If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 

God knows about our troubles

Psalm 139:15-17.   My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 

1 Corinthians 10:13.  No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

God promises to help us

2 Chronicles 16:9. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong supportto those whose heart is blameless toward him. 

Psalm 46:1-2.  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea. 

Isaiah 41:10.Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 40:31. They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Hebrews 11:1, 6.  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen . . . without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

2 Peter 1:3-4. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Philippians 1:6. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

God uses our hardships for good

Romans 8:28-29.  And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brother  

James 1:2-4.  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

1 Peter 1:6-7.  In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

We can Count on God, no matter what we need

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
I will fear no evil, for you are with me,
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

Follow this link to find a comprehensive explanation of Psalm 23. All Scripture passages are quoted from the English Standard Version of the Bible.

Suffering, Tragedy and Trauma

In this life, no one is exempt from trouble. When suffering, tragedy, or trauma happens, we need someone bigger than we are to help us. God promises to help. And the Lord cares for every one of his children. Therefore he knows what they are experiencing and how to fix it or use it. Infinite love motivates him to act, and he has infinite power to overcome anything. Even in the times when he allows us to suffer, he uses our difficulties to grow our faith and our knowledge of him. 

Can you trust God?  Check out my blog: Who Can I Trust?

• Author of Escape From The Land of If Only